Cause of Pemex explosion remains uncertain

Death toll rises in Mexico; several trapped in debris

Firefighters and workers dig for survivors trapped after an explosion in a Pemex building in Mexico City.

Firefighters and workers dig for survivors trapped after an explosion in a Pemex building in Mexico City.

Photo: Guillermo Gutierrez, STR

Image 2 of 10

An emergency worker treats a Pemex worker, one of dozens injured in the explosion.

An emergency worker treats a Pemex worker, one of dozens injured in the explosion.

Photo: Guillermo Gutierrez, STR

Image 3 of 10

Firefighters belonging to the Tacubaya sector and workers dig for survivors after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. A large explosion occurred in the lower floors of the building and dozens have been reported injured so far. (AP Photo/Guillermo Gutierrez)

Firefighters belonging to the Tacubaya sector and workers dig for survivors after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday

An emergency responder carries a piece of concrete as emergency workers and firefighter dig for survivor at the site on an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. The explosion killed more than 10 people and injured some 80 as it heavily damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

An emergency responder carries a piece of concrete as emergency workers and firefighter dig for survivor at the site on an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil

An emergency responder walks with a search dog as emergency workers and firefighters search for trapped survivors at the site on an explosion in a building at Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX complex, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. The explosion killed more than 10 people and injured some 80 as it heavily damaged three floors of the building. According to civil protection and local media some people remained trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or PEMEX.(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

An emergency responder walks with a search dog as emergency workers and firefighters search for trapped survivors at the site on an explosion in a building at Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX complex, in

Firefighters belonging to the Tacubaya sector and emergency responders pull out a survivor after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. A large explosion occurred in the lower floors of the building and dozens have been reported injured so far. (AP Photo/Guillermo Gutierrez)

Firefighters belonging to the Tacubaya sector and emergency responders pull out a survivor after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico

A worker belonging to Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX keeps journalists away after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of PEMEX in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital Thursday left at least several workers injured, blew out windows and damaged the building, the company said. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A worker belonging to Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX keeps journalists away after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of PEMEX in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. An

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF MXEV102.- Rescue workers and firefighters gather as emergency responders search for trapped survivors at the site on an explosion in a building at Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX complex, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. The explosion killed more than 10 people and injured some 80 as it heavily damaged three floors of the building. According to civil protection and local media some people remained trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or PEMEX.(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF MXEV102.- Rescue workers and firefighters gather as emergency responders search for trapped survivors at the site on an explosion in a building at Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX

An injured person is carried into an ambulance after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital killed more than 10 people and injured some 80 as it heavily damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

An injured person is carried into an ambulance after an explosion at an adjacent building to the executive tower of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. An explosion

Emergency responders walk toward the site on an explosion at a building part of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX complex, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. The explosion killed more than 10 people and injured some 80 as it heavily damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

Emergency responders walk toward the site on an explosion at a building part of Mexico's state-owned oil company PEMEX complex, in Mexico City, Thursday Jan. 31, 2013. The explosion killed more than 10 people

MEXICO CITY - An explosion rocked the headquarters of Petroleo Mexicanos, the state-owned energy monopoly, killing at least 25 people, injuring more than 100 and trapping several more in the building's severely damaged ground floor.

Mexican officials rushed to the scene, in the center of Mexico City, said they were unsure what caused the explosion, which appeared to have originated in the basement of one of the complex's main buildings.

But the blast comes as the newly installed government of President Enrique Peña Nieto has announced plans to move forward on the "modernization" of Pemex, which many view as code for privatizing Mexico's hydrocarbon industry.

For many, particularly those in the political left, privatizing the industry is seen as treason.

"We don't know the causes," said Miguel Angel Osorio-Chong, the federal interior minister. "We are delegating all the forces possible to know what it was that happened and tend to the needs of those in the installations."

Peña said in a Twitter post that tending to the injured was the government's priority. He offered condolences to the families of those killed.

Adjacent building

The Pemex headquarters complex includes the Pemex tower, which is one of Mexico's tallest buildings, a landmark on the near north side of downtown Mexico City. But the explosion appears to have struck the basement of a secondary building, B-2. Thousands of people are employed in the complex.

One early version carried in the Mexican media blamed the explosion on a gas leak. Employees interviewed on Mexican television said the whole building shook violently with the force of the blast.

"It felt like the earth opened up beneath the building," one woman said, pointing out that she sustained slight injuries to her foot in the attempt to evacuate the building. Another woman said the blast broke windows on the upper floors of the tall tower.

"We were talking and all of sudden we heard an explosion with white smoke and glass falling from the windows," said Maria Concepcion Andrade, 42, who lives on the block of the Pemex complex, told the Associated Press.

"People started running from the building covered in dust. A lot of pieces were flying."

Although officials said the blasts' cause was uncertain, suspicions immediately turned to terrorism. Pemex, which accounts for more than a third of Mexico's public budget, has been the targeted in the past by shadowy leftist guerrilla groups.

The company has also suffered frequent explosions in its gas and oil pipelines and processing facilities.

Pipeline bombings

A 2007 statement purportedly signed by the tiny and shadowy People's Revolutionary Army, or EPR, claimed credit for a rash of pipeline bombings in oil rich Veracruz state, saying the attacks were in retaliation for the government's "war on the people."

Other pipelines were attacked in central Queretaro and Guanajuato states.

The energy reforms proposed by the Peña administration are much the same as former President Felipe Calderon tried to get through congress since 2006.

Mexican officials insist that privatization is not being considered, but want to find ways to attract the tens of billions of dollars in private investment needed to develop Mexico's deep water reserves and the shale gas fields near the South Texas border.

Mexico is estimated to have the fourth or fifth largest reserves of shale gas.

Lawmakers from Mexican leftist parties, which firmly oppose anything that smacks of privatization, have recently called for sounding the alarm against any such moves.

Peña aides have said they intend to have an energy reform passed by Mexico's Congress this year.